Hawkeyes heading to Outback Bowl

Posted:
Sunday, December 7, 2008 10:10 PM EST

IOWA CITY (KWWL) - When the ticket offices at Carver Hawkeye Arena opened Sunday afternoon, people were both standing in line and jamming up the phone lines, all on the promise of going to a bowl game.

It was a moment fans had been waiting for in anticipation.

"i think it's gonna be a really fun time," said Kevin Beaudette

He and his friends had already budgeted for gas for the trip to Tampa before the invite was announced.

"I fiure it's a buck fifty or two bucks a gallon, so why not drive, you know?"

His optimism was shared by other students, both excited and ready to hit the road. "We're taking the 20 hour drive," said one woman.

Fans who didn't show up in-person to claim their seat in the stadium called in. Aaron Maisel was busy trying to deal with backed-up phone lines when we caught up with him. "It looks like there are 35 waiting right now." He expects the 11,000 tickets at $75 apiece will go fast. "I'm sure we won't have a problem selling those out."

Even before word of the outback bowl invite got out, it's apparent that's what many were expecting. Another call taker told us, "pretty much everyone's asking for Outback Bowl tickets."

It's an invitation Head Coach Kirk Ferentz was happy to accept. "If you talk about San Antonio, Orlando or Tampa, you can't go wrong, and we know that first-hand."

Ticket office workers say tickets should be mailed out on or around December 17th.